State Senator Mary Lazich (R-New Berlin) represents parts of four counties: Milwaukee, Waukesha, Racine, and Walworth. Her Senate District 28 includes New Berlin, Franklin, Greendale, Hales Corners, Muskego, Waterford, Big Bend, the town of Vernon and parts of Greenfield, East Troy, and Mukwonago. Senator Lazich has been in the Legislature for more than a decade. She considers herself a tireless crusader for lower taxes, reduced spending and smaller government.

The State of the State is historically a speech that is upbeat and optimistic. There’s little positive to say about the state’s current fiscal climate and our immediate future.

Wisconsin’s unemployment rate is just under nine percent, and yet we continue to tax and spend at very high levels. All reports indicate every state in the country will take a long time to recover from the recession. Our stimulus money has all been spent without creating the jobs promised.

The governor should have been brutally honest about the economic problems that still lie ahead and the measures we need to take to climb out of our deficit, the largest in the state’s history. We cannot afford any new spending programs. We need to cut spending and eliminate recent tax increases.

The governor claimed job creation will be his top priority. That is too little too late. The governor should have emphasized job creation in his first State of the State speech, not his last.

The governor bragged about job creation, a slap in the face to the many that are unemployed.

A new health care program was proposed when the state cannot operate existing health care programs without scandal or appropriate oversight.

The governor called global warming legislation a jobs bill when a recent study demonstrated the bill will result in lost jobs and increased taxes and energy costs. A PewResearchCenter poll on issues of most concern to Americans during 2010 ranked global warming dead last.

The governor tried to pass himself off as a champion of the property taxpayer at a time that Wisconsin property taxes are some of the highest in the nation. During his tenure, the governor has proposed and signed into law huge tax and spending increases that have gotten the state into our current fiscal crisis.

Overall, the governor’s speech did little to build the optimism of Wisconsin job seekers and taxpayers that our economic strength will be restored.

I stood in support of Scott Walker with my Republican legislative colleagues today during his speech in the Capitol rotunda. Scott Walker is correct that tax cuts are an essential component of a successful plan to restore Wisconsin’s economic strength. If Scott Walker’s comments today are a preview of his approach as governor, that is exactly what Wisconsin’s economy needs.

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